Chapter 648 The Price of Silence
Laurie hesitated. “I know you took an unconscious Nora abroad for treatment after your leg injury and didn’t return for two or three years. But even if you weren’t in the country, didn’t you ever pay attention to Yunice’s situation? You could’ve at least gotten her out – helped her escape.”
Wyatt closed his eyes, his voice hoarse. “I was afraid someone would trace it back to me, but… something went wrong. The people I sent told me Yunice and Paul were doing great together, that they had gone to the same university and were practically glued to each other, living a happy life. After that, I never asked again. Until I saw Yunice again, I didn’t know Elsie had taken her identity. All the news coming from abroad was actually about Elsie. I guess… I was angry too. When I heard she and Paul were doing well, I gave up on the idea of ever being with her. I forced myself to treat her like a stranger. I stopped caring about her life.
When I came back to Silverburgh, I ran into Yunice again in the black market. The lighting was dim. I was being hunted, desperate to escape. She ran into me. Honestly, I didn’t recognize her at first. She was so thin. Her eyes were filled with fear. But she helped me escape.
Even then, I stayed on guard. I thought she might be like Nora – someone Paul sent to manipulate me. She had been utterly devoted to Paul. If he asked her to do it, she’d do it. So even after seeing her a few more times, I still couldn’t let her in. She orchestrated encounters with me, showed me what she could do. I knew she wanted to get close, but I gave her no chance. I craved her closeness, but I also feared the day she might pull a knife – wondering whether I should push her away or pretend not to see.
When Paul tried to take her away in front of me, she cried and begged me to save her. The moment I opened my mouth, I knew – I was already falling. So I stopped pretending. I had to have her. If she ever dared stab me, I’d lock her up in my house forever. No matter what, she was mine. Even when she broke off her engagement with Paul, I thought it was just another act. But I used the opportunity to arrange a marriage between us – forced her to marry me. That was the best decision I’ve ever made. I didn’t truly trust her until the night we first slept together. When she gave herself to me, I fell apart. Yunice had never been with Paul. All of it was lies. Every drop of cruelty had been dumped on Yunice’s shoulders.
In that moment, all the pieces finally connected. I realized just how horribly wrong I’d been. After I beat the hell out of Paul, I finally found out that Elsie had been living Yunice’s life during those three years…”
Laurie let out a soft sigh. “What’s lost is lost. No one can go back and fix the past.”
This wasn’t really anyone’s fault. Before Yunice broke off her engagement, Wyatt was just an unwanted illegitimate son with no power or influence. He was bullied constantly, too self-conscious to ever show his feelings for her. Yunice was quiet and solitary. She had no idea what Wyatt felt for her, and because of that, she missed every chance to ask for help. If either one of them had spoken up before things spiralled, maybe Yunice wouldn’t have ended up in an asylum. Sure enough, the situation back then had been impossibly difficult – for both of them.
But Laurie suddenly slammed her hand on the table. “Everything you said, I can understand. But why did you take Nora abroad for treatment? You let the Powell family manipulate you over and over. Do you have any idea how it looked? Everyone thought you were madly in love with Nora – even I believed it. How could Yunice not believe it?”
Wyatt said, “Do you know why Paul sent Nora to me?”
Laurie froze. That’s right. Why would Paul send someone who looked like his fiancée to his enemy? No matter how she thought about it, it was twisted.
Wyatt said, “Because he figured it out. He knew – long before anyone else – that I had feelings for Yunice. So he deliberately sent Nora to test me. You all think seeing someone who looks similar would make me fall for her too. But no – it didn’t work like that. When it’s someone you desperately want and can’t have, seeing an imposter only makes you furious.”
Laurie couldn’t help but think of that scene in Hamlet – the one with the replica of the dead queen. Her brows furrowed as she tried to get inside Paul’s head.
Wyatt continued, “I’ve known Paul long enough to understand how he thinks. If I had ignored Nora, maybe he would’ve stopped suspecting me. But I didn’t. I took her in. Because Paul’s true motive was possessiveness over Yunice, he just wanted to humiliate me. An illegitimate bastard daring to covet the crown prince’s fiancée but too afraid to say anything – wasn’t that satisfying enough for him?”